Hardest of Hearts
by xBelongToTheHurricane
Summary: When a serial killer escapes from prison, he seeks revenge on the two people who put him in jail in the first place.
1. Chapter 1

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.**

_Chapter One_

Temperance Brennan didn't usually get the chance to drink alone. Sure, she drank with Booth all the time, but she never really caught the chance to sit alone with her thoughts. Much to Brennan's surprise, she was almost alone physically as well. The only other people in the bar were a couple drunks in a booth in the back, but she managed to block them out easily enough.

The news was going on about something on the TV hung in the ceiling's corner above her, but she didn't bother to look at it. She must have gotten used to not owning a TV.

She'd only had two drinks, and it was mostly to celebrate. Her and Booth had put a serial killer away – Alex Nadeau. A man in his mid thirties. His victims had been all shapes, sizes, genders, and ages. He never stuck to one.

"Up for another drink?" The bartender snapped her out of her own thoughts. The large man lacking hair on the top of his head and plenty of tattoos covering every inch of his arms revealed by his t-shirt leaned against the counter in front of her.

"No thank you," Brennan answered. "I should be getting home."

"Watch out for that loose serial killer," the man joked. Quite obviously, he had no idea who she was or what she'd accomplished.

"Actually, he was caught at approximately four Friday afternoon," Brennan explained, counting the days since. It was Tuesday. Four days ago. "He is of no danger to anyone now."

"You didn't hear?" The tender raised one thick brow at her.

"Hear what? I was..." Brennan started, soon to be rudely cut off by him. Though annoyed by this, she kept quiet.

"He got out earlier today," the man explained. For reasons Brennan couldn't comprehend, he seemed excited about a loose serial killer. He leaned the slightest bit closer, as if nobody else knew about the news and he needed to tell her privately. "He could be anywhere now."

Brennan simply gaped for a moment. After all the work her and Booth had done to put Nadeau away, he was out and quite possibly killing again.

She rose from her seat, planning everything out in her head. The first thing she would do is call Booth. He would alert whoever needed alerting, and they would go on a search with her included.

"I have to go," she announced bluntly, already on her way out the door.

Rain began to soak her trench coat no sooner than when she got out the door, but she had more important things to think about than dry clothes. She dug her keys and phone out of her pocket, blindly hitting a button so her headlights would allow her to find her car.

She managed to get there without slipping on the wet surface of the parking lot and struggled with all the keys in her hand. Booth was right, why _did_ she need so many? Heaving an annoyed sigh, she brought them closer to her eyes so she could see better.

Unusually unforeseen by her, Brennan's body was slammed with a mass way greater than her own, sending her stumbling backwards and leading to an inevitable collison with the wet ground.

She didn't need to look up, of course. She knew who would be there, and the side of her face that had made impact with the ground had begun to sting from a scrape mark she knew would be there if she were to look in a mirror.

Perhaps it was the change in the air that caused her to look up, or perhaps it was the deadly silence that had passed, but she regretted doing it. A gun was pointed straight at her, the silver of it glistening with rain.

"Don't try anything now, Doc. I'm not afraid to kill you right here, right now. You may be one hell of a fighter, but I'm the one with a gun."


	2. Chapter 2

**SouthunLady: **Trololol. I was gonna bring back some crazy killer from the actual show, but I feel like they're all dead... ._.

**Shaneaadialevesque:** Your name is really fun to try to say out loud. Baha. And thanks!

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><p>"Give me your keys," Alex ordered.<p>

Brennan glanced up from the ground again. She'd managed to keep her keys in her hand when she fell, but her phone was several feet away from her now, probably in the process of being destroyed by the rain.

She couldn't call Booth. She couldn't call anyone. So now her only choices were either to do what he said, get shot at, or fight. She didn't exactly favor any of the choices, but the two latter would most likely end in someone else being shot as well if they came to help.

"I said give me the damn keys," he repeated harshly, repositioning the gun in his hand so it was angled better towards her temple.

Resisting the urge to whip the collection of keys at him, she tightened the objects in her hand before slowly handing them over.

"Now get up and get in the car," he spat.

Brennan subtly glanced at her phone. If he noticed it in the darkness, he didn't say anything. She needed some form of communication. She couldn't just leave it.

Alex laughed curtly when she made no move for the car. "Unless you want to die tonight, I suggest you listen."

Brennan remained still for a moment before lunging for the phone. Suddenly noticing what had kept her so damn still, Alex darted after her. Just as she reached out to grab the wet telephone, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back. Brennan tried to tear her arm from his grip, but it was no use. He tugged her to her feet and shoved her against the car, pressing the gun firmly against her temple.

"One more move like that, and you'll end up in the trunk," he growled, using one hand to unlock the car.

"How did you even get out?" Brennan managed her first words since he arrived in what she meant to be a strong voice, but turned out to be barely a whisper.

"It doesn't really matter now, does it?"

"If you're taking my car, I think I at least deserve to know what happened," Brennan muttered, trying her best to talk while pressed up against the car door.

"It's hardly taking your car when you're coming with me," he joked darkly, but Brennan was in no mood to laugh.

"I d..." she started.

"Enough talking," he snapped suddenly, pulling the car door open and shoving her into the passenger's seat.

Thankfully, she only collided a little with the door. Slowly she sat up, refusing to allow him the amusement of hurting her at all.

Alex quickly made his way into the driver's seat. She had absolutely no idea how he managed to find the right key, but somehow he knew. She clenched her jaw, glancing at her phone that was now hopelessly locked outside the car.

He wasted no time as he stepped on the gas, but drove as normal as any person would. He had to make it look that way.

Brennan remained silent as they drove, trying to think.

Silently, she cursed the fact that it was so late that the streets were absolutely empty. There was no one who could help nearby.

She tried to map out the directions and conclude where they were driving to, but nothing came to mind. She glanced at the steering wheel. They were in a hilly area with absolutely no houses around, it seemed.

Spontaneously and before she could stop herself from being overly-rational as usual, she reached over and attempted to grab the steering wheel.

"What the..."

Before he could continue, she jerked the steering wheel and sent them off course and had them colliding into the nearest tree.


	3. Chapter 3

**sara9b: **Thank you! Glad you like it!

**Shaneaadialevesque:** ;D I keep doing it every time I see your name now. -winner- And thank you again!

**4evercaskett:** As for _your_ username...it's completely true. I heart me some Caskett as well as BB. Thank you!

**SouthunLady: **Bahaha. Brennan is always a good fighter. :3

**raineorshine:** Thank you! Glad you like it.

**xXxMusexXx: **Thank you for the suggestion! I find it weird that Mayhem on the Cross didn't even cross my mind when I wrote that. I seem to fail at making chapters longer, so that should really help!

Four more reviews than last time? Excuse me while I die. I get really excited over them for some reason...is that weird? Baha. I think they make me more enthusiastic which makes me want to update more often. I don't even know. Ignore me. Haha. xP

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><p>Brennan's mind slowly drifted back into consciousness, the world flickering around her. Just for a moment, she completely forgot what had happened, and just for a moment it didn't matter. She found herself contemplating giving into unconsciousness once again.<p>

For a moment, she couldn't feel anything, physically or emotionally. Temperance Brennan was never the type of person to give up, but just for a moment she considered it.

Finally, after what seemed like years of solitude with herself, she felt the ground underneath her. It didn't feel at all like the dirt floor that would have resided in the woods when they were driving, and it didn't feel like the road. That was what confused her.

She almost dared to move, but stopped herself. She wouldn't move until she knew where she was, she decided stubbornly. After a brief moment of hope that she would be safe in a hospital somewhere and refusing to pray, she squinted her eyes open.

They didn't have much to adjust to, she realized as her eyes flickered through out the room. One window. Wherever she was, the room had one window. No...she couldn't call this a room. It was more a warehouse than anything.

She was laying on the floor as if she'd decided to sleep there.

It was obviously forgotten long ago. The walls were composed of dirty, aged gray bricks. Wooden poles lined the middle of the place, running from ceiling to a dark wooden floor that you could hardly call clean.

"You're quiet. Don't want to know why I brought you here? What my intentions are?" the voice was all too familiar.

She didn't know how she expected to end up here without him, but irrationally, she had hoped it. She had hoped that Nadeau had been caught and that she was being looked for. Refusing to let her disappointment show, Brennan stared blankly ahead, momentarily ignoring the voice behind her. "You're waiting for Booth to find me," she stated calmly.

"Once he's out of the way, you'll be fairly easy to take care of," Alex said.

"What makes you say that?" Brennan had to keep herself from snapping at him. She was as strong as anyone out there.

"Well, for one thing, you can't exactly get anywhere." She could practically see the smirk on his face, even if he wasn't in front of her.

Brennan wrinkled her forehead slightly in confusion. She began to wriggle a bit, just to prove him wrong, and finally found what he was talking about – her hands were tied behind her, and her feet in a similar position below her.

Being tied up wasn't the only thing she found during that brief period of movement. She caught sight of blood on the floor out of the corner of her eye. That and the slight stinging she had begun to feel just above her eye told her that there was most likely an ugly cut there.

She didn't know where else she might be hurt, and right now she didn't care. She was more concerned about Booth. She already knew Alex had a gun, and who knew what other kind of weapons he was carrying with him? If only she had her phone!

"Look," Brennan started, trying to sound strong despite the weakness she felt at the moment. "If you need to shoot someone, kill someone...make sure it's me. Please..."

_God,_ she hated begging, but she was sure she'd take a bullet every day for the rest of her life if it guaranteed Booth's safety.

"Shut up," he stated firmly.

She paused for a moment. "It would be the rational thing to do. Booth just assisted in capturing you. I'm the one who led to-"

"I've about had it with you," he growled, raising his gun.

Brennan squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to allow herself to look.

The one and only door on the far side of the room was suddenly sent flying to the ground. Brennan wriggled in her bonds, suddenly forgetting about the gun that was pointed at her. "Booth!"

Trying to ignore the anger beginning to boil inside of him at the sight of his Bones struggling, he aimed his gun at Alex. "Drop the gun."

Obviously contemplating it, his gun lifted slowly to point at Booth.

"Alex, drop the gun," Booth repeated more slowly.

"Okay," he replied too simply. In one quick movement, he aimed his gun at Brennan and shot.

Somehow, she'd seen it coming. She'd tried to prepare for it, but could anyone really prepare for something like a bullet?

She tried to think rationally. She had no idea where the wound was exactly – somewhere in her arm. Near an artery. She knew that already.

She was hardly aware of the blood that had soaked her sleeve and was well past beginning to flood the floor around her.

Enraged by the action, Booth lunged forward and shot his gun twice for good measure. No doubt the man was dead in his mind.

Dropping his gun and casting one last glance at the limp body, Booth rushed over to Brennan.

"_Bones_!"


End file.
